I’ll be honest, Chester wasn’t on my radar for years. It’s the sort of place that gets mentioned in passing, tacked onto a trip to Liverpool or Manchester, never quite the main event. That’s a mistake. Chester is a genuinely brilliant weekend break: a walled Roman city with two-tiered Tudor shopping galleries, one of the best zoos in the world on its doorstep, and enough good food and quiet corners to keep a curious traveller busy for two or three days without ever feeling rushed.
It’s also ridiculously easy to get to. Direct trains from London Euston take as little as two hours, so you can be having lunch in the city centre before you’ve even properly settled into your day.
Quick facts: Chester at a glance
- Getting there: Direct trains from London Euston in as little as 2 hours 4 minutes (Avanti West Coast)
- Best for: A weekend break combining history, food, and one of the UK’s top zoos
- Chester Zoo tickets: From £42.50 for adults (booked online, price correct as of writing)
- Where I stayed: The Queen at Chester Hotel, a two-minute walk from the station
- Chester on a Plate food tour: From £85 per person for the half-day tour, price correct as of writing
- Ideal trip length: A long weekend (2-3 days) gives you time for the city and a full day at the zoo
Getting your bearings: walk the canal, walk the walls
Chester rewards you for putting your phone away and just walking, and there are two walks that will properly orient you in the city.
First up, the Chester Canal. I wandered along it on my first afternoon and it’s a lovely, easy way to get a feel for the place. You’ll pass old industrial buildings like the Steam Mill, plus a good run of bars and restaurants along the water, with narrowboats moored up adding to the scene. It’s not a long walk, but it’s a genuinely relaxing one.
Then there are the City Walls themselves. Chester is one of the few English cities where you can still walk a complete circuit of the old Roman and medieval walls, and it’s a highlight. It’s green, it’s historic, and you get a totally different view of the city from up there.
Along the walls, look out for King Charles’ Tower, a 13th-century watchtower on the northeast corner. It’s also known as the Phoenix Tower after the guild of painters who restored it in 1613 (their phoenix emblem is still visible above the door). The tower gets its more famous name from a rather dramatic bit of local legend: it’s said that King Charles I stood here in September 1645 and watched his army get defeated at the Battle of Rowton Moor. Slightly awkward footnote for the story: historians have pointed out you actually can’t see Rowton Moor from the tower.
A hidden gem inside the walls: Books on the Walls
If you only do one “off the beaten path” thing in Chester, make it this. Books on the Walls, tucked at 10 Northgate Street, is a tiny secondhand bookshop that’s literally built into the ancient city walls. You walk in expecting a shop and find yourself somewhere that feels more like a nook of history that just happens to sell books.
It’s a real hidden gem: shelves packed with hand-picked titles, the smell of good coffee and old paper, and some cosy corners to sit in with a cappuccino and a book. If you love that kind of atmospheric, slightly secretive find when you travel, this is exactly that.
Chester Cathedral
The cathedral is one of those buildings that’s easy to walk past and hard to walk past twice. I went in the evening before I properly explored it, and came back the next day to see it properly in the daylight, when the stained glass windows really come into their own. The gardens around it are lovely too, worth a slow wander rather than a quick photo stop.
The Rows and the city centre
Chester’s city centre is one of the most attractive I’ve walked around in the UK, and a lot of that comes down to The Rows. These are two-tiered, black-and-white timbered shopping galleries dating back to the late 13th century, unique to Chester. You’ve got shops at street level and a second, covered tier of shops above, reached by their own staircases.
It’s a strange, brilliant piece of medieval town planning that just happens to still work perfectly as a modern shopping street. Walking along at the upper level, weaving in and out of shopfronts with the black-and-white Tudor architecture all around you, is a highlight of visiting Chester.
Where to eat and drink
Chalk Coffee, on Watergate Street, is where I’d start the morning. I’m a bit of a coffee snob, having grown up in Melbourne, a city that takes its coffee very seriously, and this place did not disappoint.
For lunch or an afternoon browse, head to Chester Market, a modern food hall with a global range of vendors under one roof. I’d recommend Bean & Cole if you want good coffee in the middle of your market wander, they’ve got a specialty espresso and filter bar right there among the stalls.
For cheese lovers, don’t miss The Cheese Wedge, now based at 1 Goss Street just off Watergate Street. It’s a proper independent, stocking well over a hundred cheeses, and the sort of shop where you’ll come out with more than you intended to buy.
In the evening, Rooftop Social is a great shout. Lots of outdoor space, and a rotating set of food bars and market-style stalls so everyone in your group can pick a completely different cuisine and still end up sitting together.
And if you want a proper deep dive into the food scene, book yourself onto the Chester on a Plate food tour. It took me to spots I genuinely wouldn’t have found on my own, including a wander through Rufus Court, a hidden courtyard off Northgate Street with its own bars, restaurants, and a bit of street art tucked into the corners. The tour combines tastings with a walking tour of the city, and it’s a brilliant way to get under the skin of a place in just a few hours.
Chester Zoo: worth the hype
If Chester the city is the appetiser, Chester Zoo is the main course, and it’s an easy contender for one of the best zoos in the country. It’s genuinely more immersive safari experience than traditional day-out zoo.
My personal highlight was watching the elephants get bathed, which was somehow both very funny and completely charming. The zoo’s newest development, Heart of Africa, is a 22-acre habitat, the largest at the zoo, home to 57 species including giraffes, zebras and ostriches roaming together in a mixed savannah setting. It’s an impressive piece of design, and it’s easy to lose an hour just watching the giraffes.
Elsewhere I loved the warthogs, the flamingos, and the naked mole-rats, who are somehow both bizarre-looking and completely compelling to watch. There are also rhinoceroses on site, and with 35,000-plus animals across the grounds, you could genuinely spend a full day here and still not see everything.
One thing that might surprise you: you can actually stay overnight at Chester Zoo now. The Reserve, a set of luxury safari-style lodges overlooking the Heart of Africa savannah, opened in 2025, so it’s entirely possible to combine your zoo day with a proper overnight stay among the animals.
Where to stay: The Queen at Chester Hotel
I stayed at The Queen at Chester Hotel, and it could not have been more convenient. It’s literally opposite Chester railway station, so if you’re arriving by train you can be checking in within two minutes of stepping off the platform.
The building dates back to 1860, originally built as a railway hotel for first-class passengers, and it still has that grand, old-world bones to it. But inside, it’s had a refresh: a beautiful staircase running up through the middle of the building, a cool bar, and lots of little design details that stop it feeling stuffy. There’s a good amount of outside space too, which I always appreciate in a city centre hotel. They’ve also got a resident hotel cat, Queenie, who I was very pleased to meet.
You might enjoy reading my articles on the best things to do in Winchester, best things to do in Durham, best things to do in Avebury and where to stay in the Cotswolds.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chester worth visiting for a weekend?
Yes. It packs history, food, shopping and one of the UK’s best zoos into a compact, walkable city, and most of it can comfortably be done over two to three days.
How do you get from London to Chester?
Direct trains run from London Euston to Chester, taking as little as 2 hours 4 minutes with Avanti West Coast.
Is Chester Zoo good for adults without kids?
Absolutely. Between the Heart of Africa savannah, the conservation work on display, and the sheer scale of the site, it’s a genuinely engaging day out whether or not you’ve got children in tow.
Can you stay overnight at Chester Zoo?
Yes, The Reserve offers luxury safari-style lodges within the zoo grounds, opened in 2025, with packages that include out-of-hours access to parts of the zoo.
What’s the best way to see Chester’s food scene?
A guided food tour, such as Chester on a Plate, is a great shortcut to the city’s best independent spots, alongside a wander through Chester Market and a coffee stop at Chalk Coffee.
I visited Chester on a press trip but as always my opinions are my own. This article contains affiliate links. That means if you click through on some of the links and end up making a purchase I may receive a small commission.
Amanda O’Brien is the creator and editor of The Boutique Adventurer. She has visited 80 countries and is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers as well as the IFTWTA. She is passionate about wine had has just completed Level 3 of the WSET. Born in Australia, she lives in London.